Excavating-machine.



No. 884,764. 'PATENTBD APR.14, 190s'. E. o. Roon;

EXCAVATING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 12. 1907.

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110.1334364.l PATENTED APR. 14, 1908.

I E. 0. Roon. BXGMLATING MACHINE.

' APPLICATION FILED JUNE 12. 1907.

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Vpasses over the surface thereof.

UNITED sTATns TATENT OFFIOE.

EDWIN O. ROOD, OF BRI'TT, IOWA, ASSIGNOR TO TH INTERS'IATE DRAINAGE & INVESTMENT nxcAvA'rrNG-MAGHINE.

Specification of Iletters Patent.

Patented April 14, 1908.

Application iiled. June 12, 1907. Serial No. 378,527.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN O. ROOD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Britt, county of Hancock, State of Iowa, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Excavating-Machines, and declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which-it pertains to make and use the saine, reference einor had to the acconipanyin drawings, which form a part of this speciIca'tion.

My invention relates to apparatus for excavatin ratus a a for digging trenches or ditches.

Hereto ore it has been common to dig trenches by means 'of endless conve ers or the like provided with scoops, each o which takes up a small charge of material as it Not only is apparatus of this kind cumbersome, but a considerable ortion thereof must lie within the excavate ortion' of the trench so that, in case the Wallis cave in, the material drops upon the to of the portion of the apparatus in the trenc and makes it necessary to release the apparatus by digging around it and removing t e material which has fallen thereon'. r

The primary object ofniy invention is to rovide an excavating apparatus which shall e simple in construction and positive in its operation, so as to make it possible to excavate material in the most expeditious and economical manner.

A further object'of my invention is to provide an excavating apparatus wherein no portion thereof remains'within the excavated portion of. the trench, so that all danger of inconvenience or injury to the a paratus occasioned by caving-in'walls is obviated.

, A further object of my invention is to provide an excavating ap aratus which will automatically move itse f ste by step as the excavation progresses, so t atno particular attention is required to maintain the exf cavatingdevices at a'll times in pro er relation to the material to be excavate Further objects of my invention will hereinafter appear in the detailed description of my invention.

Generally speaking, my invention consists in an apparatus arranged to ply a spade-like tool so as to shear a slice from t e material to be excavated and then `to carry this slice by dpower, and particularly appa-l away. To this end I provide a traveling carriage or vehicle, whic may be conveniently mounted on wheels, and mount thereon suitably inclined guides within which the spadelike ,tool is free to slide. The guides are so arranged that the tool enters the ground beo ening in which the cut has been made and t e guard is released so that the material carried by the tool may drop therefrom. The excavated material may-be deposited onany suitable conveyer so as to be carried to any desired oint. If the apparatus is being used to 'g a trench as Wide as the tool, the

material needonly be carried far enough so that it may be deposited at the side of the trench. Means are also rovided so that after the tool has complete a cut, and before it again descendsv into the material to be excavated, the entire carriage is moved forward a step. sulicient to cause the tool to cut ofi a slice of the desired thickness at its next operation. It will be seen that bythis arrangement the material is cleanly excavated and in a manner which permits the power to be a plied most advanta eously to the tool. Furt ermore the trenc which is being formed contains at no time any other apparratus than the tool and its uard, s o that 1nv case the wallsof the treno should cave in back of the point at which the, actual excavation is taking place,4 no inconvenience or J(f lramage to the machinery can result thereom. -It will, of course, be understood that the mechanisms for carr ing out my invention ma be greatly varie and I do not desire to be iinited to any particular mechanisms, e'xcept to the extenthereinafter particularly pointed out in the claims.

' For a full understanding of my invention, however, and of its various objects and advantages, I have illustrated in the accompanying drawings. an arrangement of parts which may be used toadvantage in carrying out my invention. I

In said drawings. Figure l is a view partly in side elevation, and partly lin section, ofthe apparatus as a wh'ole, the'spadebeing about Vto enter the material to be excavated; Fig. 2 is a view similar'to'Fi 1 of a fragment of the ap]paratus,showing t e spade in the osition W ch it occupies )ust before its Wit drawal from the material; Fig; 3 is aview similar to Fig.` 2, showing'the'spade in the act of dis char in ;Fi .4isa lanviewof thea aratusg; 5.g1s a rontp elevation of the sgade Vand its guard; and Fig. 6 is a section taken on line 6-f6 of Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawing,

mounte Asrepresents a upon pairs of wheels A and E. y venientfly be swiveledto the body as at A3 so as toY a ord steering facilities. At the rear of the carriage is a tower-like construction B y which is adapted to support and guide the spade C. The part B may be ormedin any suitable manner, as for example, it may consist of two'channel beams b and b suitably su ported sides thereo facing` each other. beams may be connected togetherby suitable braces b2 and b3 and struts b and bsmay connect the` beams at points intermediate their 'ends with/the body portion of the apparatus. The l'channel beams are inclined to u on the body ortion at opposite Fandarrangeclwiththe channels Vthe body portion at their lower ends, while at Y their upper ends the -mayconveniently be at right angles to t `e bod portion. The

spade is `provided with whee s 4c and c which Ais such that thespade when it is moved down-- ward between .a the beams may enter the and into parallelism-with the upper ride between the flanges of the channel beamsand permit, the s ade to travel from one end ofthe beams to t e other. The lowerends of the channel beams preferablyl project beneath the 4body of the apparatus so as to lienear' Vthe 'surfaceonl 'w ich/ the apparatus rests. The inclination of the charme beams ound at the most advantageous angle. 'A urther object ofthe inclination is t'o cause the spa-de, which-is guided in its movements by thebeams, to swing forwardly after'it has` been lifted with its charge, so as toV deposit' the charg1 at a point which will not-interfere with its rther operation. Thus the s ade -travels in 'a straight line until the w eels 335 and controlled in such a manner that it is The' wheels A may con- The upper ends of the' `normal slice vout by the s ade.

held clear of the spade so as to allow it to en- Vter. the material to be excavated, and then closes down upon the spade and moves with it in the upward Idirection until the lower end of the s' ade has been brought above the chute; wliereupon the guard releases the ma terial upon the spade and permits it to drop into the chute.`

It will, of' course, be evident that the s ade and guard may be variously constructe and controlled so as to -errnit theV various operations to be success lly effected. A convenient formof s ade consists of a thin metal blade cz of su cient thickness to permit itto be forced into the ground, the sidewalls at one end of the blade being turned up as' at c3. The axles ci" and c5' which carry the wheels c and c may pass through and be su ported by the walls c3 so that the one end o the spade forms a carria e for the s ade pro er. The sidewalls of t e spade a jacent t e cutting edge are preferaby turned up as at c so that, as the spade enters the ground, the wall c will cut along the sides of the trench. In this way a slice of material is cleanly out and Yoffers no resistance to its subsequent removal. Furthermore, by making thelcut-in this manner, there is less danger that the Walls will cave in subsequently, due to loosening of the material at the sides which would result in case the slice upon the s ade were torn away from the sides instead o beingrsheared.

he guard C 'is preferably also made of sheet metal bent in the form of a trough which7 when resting upon the. spade, incloses a space-'sufficientlylarge .toy contain s The Guard is secured to thespade y means o? two airs ofj'links or levers E and E. These evers may convenientlybe mounted at their 'one `end upon the a es c4 and The levers E are pivotally united to the u pturned walls c7 on the .guard by means of a rod which passes throu h the levers, andv through these walls.. T e levers E are pivotally connected at their oneendto the guard by means of a second rod e which asses through the Wall c7 and through these evers. The levers E and E' are so positioned and proportioned'that, when they are oscillated away from the cutting edge of the s ade, they cause the guard to be drawn ownward into engagement with the upper -side of the spade; the arrangement being such that the greater the force which is applied to the levers the more closely will t e guard ands ade be' pressed together. On t e other hang, when the levers are oscillated in the opposite Idirection, namely to- Ward the cutting edge ofthe spade, the guard is carried away from the s ade so that its lower end is displaced lateral from a distance somewhat greater t an the depth of cut which is made by the spade.

there- These 4two positions of the guard are indil' While in Fig. 1 the levers are shown in theirv v otherextreme positions, wherein the guard i only to lift the spade7 but has been movedout ofen'gagement with the s ade. In the latter position of the parts t e' spade is free to ,make a cut. In the other position the material which the spade has cutaway is positively held thereon.

A convenient and advantageous arrangement for' operating the spade consists of ropes F attached to the levers E intermediate their ends for pulling the spade downward and a rope G attached to the Levers E intermediate their ends for elevating the s ade. It will be seen that when the 4ropes are drawn upon they not only force the spade into the material to be excavated, but t eyalso positively carry the guard out of engagement therewith. On `the other hand7 when the rope G is drawn upon, it acts not positively brings the 'guard into operative re ation thereto so as, to retain the load. The ropes F pass over sheaves f and f. supported adjacent the lower ends of the channel beams and then extend upwardl 'and are connected to a cross bar f2. he cross bar hasattached thereto a single rope F which passes around a sheave f3 suspended from the cross bar b2 of the structure, and then down .to the front of the machine to a drum Thel rope G passes over-a sheave g suspended from the cross-bar b3 `of the structure and then down to a drumv I at the front of the machine.

The ro 'e G may conveniently be connected levers.

to the evers E by means of a rod g to the middle point of which the rope is fastened and the ends of which are supported by the This rod may also act as a stopby resting upon upper ends of the walls c3 when the parts are in the. position shown in Fig. l so v-as to limit the relative movement of the guard upon the spade.A i t In operation, assuming the parts to be in the position shown in Fig. 1,v the drum H is rotated so as to wind up 'the rope F. This causes the ends of the rope F which are connected`to the s ade to be drawn downward andlto force t e spade positively into the A material to be excavated. The winding up of -therope F continues'until the spade has been forced into the material the desired l extent and then the drum H is stopped. In the meantime the drum I has been operated in such a manner as to unwind the rope G or .the ro e .G h'as unwound itself. by .pulling upont e drum. The rope F isfnow slackened and the rope G is wound up upon its' Fig. 2. lThereafter theguard and the spade move together as one member, and they are drawn up the incline and then swung forwardly when the supporting wheels enter `the vertical portionsof the channel bealns.

At this point the guard engages a stop of some sort which prevents its further upward movement7 and the spade continues its upward movement for a shortl distance and moves laterally away from the guard so that the load is free to drop into the chute. Instead of em loying a fixed stop for engagement with tlie guard atthe upper end of its travel, I prefer to make use of a swinging stop in the form of a pair o f connected arms 'K which are pivotally supported by a shaft k upon "brackets b and 67 projecting later-- ally from the channel beams. These arms are connected to a swin ing frame Lb means of rods or cables The frame may conveniently be pivoted on .the rear axle a so that pawls Zand Z carried thereby may always be" in o erative relation to ratchet wheels l2 and 3 on the rear wheels A2. It will be seen that'when thearms K areswung upwardl a corresponding move-v ment is transmitte to the frame L and that,'

lby reason of the engagement of the pawls with the ratchet Wheelsy the wheels A2 will be rotated through a small an le. The parts are so adjusted that the angu ar movement of the arms K after the areen aged by the axle c4 or the rod e wi l be s cient to cause the entire apparatus to be moved. forward a distance e ual to the desired depth of cutof the spade with the fixed stop b onthe frame. order to vary the distance through'which the apparatus is lmoved at each operation, the point of connection between the members k' and the arms K may be .shifted .by placing the cross bar orother attaching device k2 into any of the holes lc in the arms.

After the load has been discharged, the

p rope-'F' is again wound up and the ropeA G is permitted to unwind until the arts "assume the `position shown in Fig. 1. ince there is no resistance offered to the downward move` ment of the spade until it strikes the ground, the rope G should be controlled in some manner, as by means of a friction brake, so that the spade will not fall too rapidly. i The spade is now ready to be driven into the ground to cut another slice.

It will now be seen that I have provided means whereby a spade -may be positively forced linto the material to be excavated; whereby-material is retained upon the spade until it is moved to the point at Awhich dumping' is to be eii'ected; and whereby the whole efore the arms engage ap aratus is then moved forward a .distance su cient to ermit the spade to make the desired cut w en it. again descends into the material to be excavated. Thus a trench or ditch of any desired length may be quickly and conveniently for-med and the excavated material deposited along the side4 ofl the trench so that it may'readily be returned into the trench when desired. Not only may a trench be dug rapidly and conveniently,

but by reason of the peculiar` operation of the vguard any loose material' which falls to the bottom ofthe trench between the Spade and the guard is'iscraped'up by'the guard and is held upon. the spade until dum d in the manner previous y described.

- to` make use of a traveling belt M so that if ground,.wheretle material is wet and stick-y it may beepositively carried to the side of the the 'excavation' is being made lin -swampy a paratus and de ositediipon the ground'. T 1e conveying be t may be of any ordinary endless type passing above and beneath the body portion A of theapparatus and over pulleys 'm secured at theisides of thel body illustrated in the drawings.

and I are loosely mounted u on shafts h and' "i, respectively. -Thesel sha ts4 are'v mounted.

portion. Anyisuitable means may beeinployed for operating the belt. Although any siiitablemechanism may bev employed for'operating the several drums, Wit out departing from'the scope ofthe present invention, a convenient arrangement is The.druins H in suitable'bearin s N aiidN and are connected tothe sha t `o of anV engine O which 4may be mounted'on the front end of the -apparatus. The driving connectionibetween the engine and the shafts h and i may take any desired'form: thus for example, the drum shafts may berprovidedv'with intermeshing gears o and o2 one of which is driven" by apinion which is in turn driven'from the enrgine shaft by means of a sprocket'chain o.

, When the engine is' in operation,- the two' d rufm shafts rotate continuously; so thateither drum' may be driven to Wind up its respective ro e by causing it .to'be clutched to its' shaft. hen it is desired'to cause either rope to'nnwind, the corresponding ydrumris un-clutched from its shaft and-the ropeis allowed to un-Wind therefrom,'either freely, or under the controlof a suitable brake, To

this'end'each drum may conveniently be providei at its o poslte ends With friction cones,l h', h2. These members are v as i", i2, anA adapted lt'o cooperate with complementary members '1.3, t4, and ha', h, on the driving ears and one of the bearing brackets. -Each rum is ralso free to slide axially upon its shaft so that it may be shifted in one direction or the e bottom. of the trench may therefore be madev quite' other'so as to clutch it to the drivin mechanism Vor cause it to Vbe Lfrictiona y held against rotation.

The drums ma convenientl engaging in annular grooves I? and H3 in the drums. The forks I and H are secured respectively tothe ends of anoscillating shaft I4 and a surrounding oscillating sleeve H4. The shaft and the sleeveare provided at their otherends With levers I5 and H5 respectively, these leyers being arranged Within easy reach of an opera-tor on'the apparatus.- 4 Y By oscillating the proper lever either ro may be caused to be Wound up o'r-to be paid out under any desired'tensio be shifted by i' providing forks "and H', w 'ch are pro-v vided with pins I2, and H2 respectivel for If desired, the conveyerbelt may be driven I by means of a sprocket chain m engaging a s rocket fmt on the end of one of the drum s afts, such as i. Adjacent one of thev ulleys or rollers m is'a second sprocket W eel m3 about which the chain fm. passes andl this lwheel is connected'to a .beveled pinion fm,21

which meshes With-`a complementary inion m5 connected tothe shaft of the mem er m.

Since the drum shaftsare arranged to rotate continuously durin the o eration of the engine, the conveyer elt Wi also be caused to travel continuously and, byproperly propor' tionin the gearing, the travel of the conv eyer elt may be such that the material deposited thereon is carried away v rithsuiii cent rapidity toprevent anaccuniullatiomk j -I- Iavin now fully described my invention, what I c aim asnew and desire to secure by `Letters Patentis:

1.` In an excavating apparatus, a frame, a

.spade guided by said frame, means for forcing said spade mtothe material tobe exea# vated, and means for retaining on the spade the material sheared offl thereby. a

2: In an excavating'apparatus, a frame, a Spade slidably supported on said frame,

means for. reciprocating said spade, and

means for retaining on the spade the mate-v rial sheared off thereby.

3. `In an excavating apparatus, aframe,`

downwardlyJ inclined guides on said fratrie, a spade arranged to travel along said guides,

means? for retainingfon thespade the mate-l rial'shearedoff thereby.

4. In an excavating apparatus, av frame',- a Spade movably Vvmounted-on saidV frame, a

guard, and means for moving said guard into position tohold the excavated material upon the s ade.

i #5v n' anexcavating apparatus, a frame, av

spade slidably mounted on said frame,- means for forcing saidspade into the material to be excavated, and ,means for retaining 'on the,

spade the materialpsheared off thereby 'dur-A ingjthe withdrawal' of the spade.

6.'. In an excavating apparatus,` afrarne, a` 130' 115 means ffor reciprocating f said spade, and

reciprocatory spade mounted on said frame, mean`s for forcing said spade into` the material to be excavated, means for withdrawing the spade from the material, and means for retaining upon the-spade the portion of the taining the excavated material upon `the spade, and means for 'moving the guard from andl toward the spade during each cycle of operations of the spade'.

8, In an excavating machine, a frame, a

20. spade slidabl'y mounted on said frame, a

guard for saidjspade, said guard and spade being so arranged that when inoperative relation toeach other they form a chamber closed at the sides and at one end, means for Y ,25 forcing said spade into the material to be excaVated, and means for actuating the guard f so as to bring it into operative relation with the spade and thereby retain fon the spade the materialwhich has been sheared 0H. 9. In an excavating apparatus, a frame, a spade supported on said frame, means for forcingsaid spade into the material to be excavated, means for retracting the spade, and means associated with said s ade and its 5 35 ,operating means for holding t e excavated material on the 'spade during the withdrawal ofthe spade and for thereafter permitting such material to be discharged from the spade. l 40 10', In an excavating apparatus, a frame, a spade movably mounted on said frame, a guard for said spade, a-device for forcing the spade into the material to be excavated, a

hoisting device, and V connections between said dev1ce and the spade and its guard so' arranged that the guard is held out of operative relation to the spade during its passage into the material to be excavated and is brought into o erative engagement with the s ade to hold tlie excavated material thereon uring the hoisting of the spade.

11. In an excavating apparatus, a spade, aguard for said spade arranged to form therewith a compartment closed at one end and at-the sides, levers connected .at their opposite ends 'to-y the spade andto the guard, sald levers being so arranged that when they are oscillated in one direction they produce a separation between the spade and the guard, While upon-oscillation thereofA in the opposite direction they force the spade and guard together.

12. AIn an excavating apparatus, 4a spade,

a guard for the spade arranged to form A55 'therewith a tubeolosed at'one end', a pair of material which Ahas been sheared 0H thereby.:

-means for controlling the levershpiviotally connected to the guard and to the spade, the levers being so proportioned and arranged that when they are oscillated in one direction the spade and 'guard are brought together, while upon oscillating the levers in the opposite direction they are separated so as to permit the spade to be forced into the materialto be excavated without being impeded by the guard.

13. In an excavating apparatus, a movv able frame, a spade mounted so as to reci-procate on said frame, lneansfor forcing said spade into the material to be excavated, means 'for hoisting the spade from the mate-` rial, and means for automatically moving 30 said frame ste i by step aftereach cycle of operations of tlie spade. l

14. In an excavating apparatus, a frame,

a spade, means for reciprocating said spade, and means yfor causing said spade to move rectilinearly during a portion of itsI stroke and for causing it to swing laterally during another portion of its stroke.

15. In an excavating apparatus, a frame, a spade, means forreciprocating said spade, means for causing said spade to move rectilinearly during a portionof its stroke and for causing it to be swunv laterally during another portion of its stro e, a guardfor retaining excavated material on the spade when the 'gu ard is in operative relation to the spade, and means for maintaining the guard in operative relation to the spade during its rectilinear movementin one direction, and for eiecting the disengagement -of the s ade from the guard .after the Vspade has een swung laterallyf v16.v In an excavating apparatus, a' frame, guides comprising twoportions arranged at an angle to each other, a spade, means on the spade for engaging said guide, means for causing s aid spa e to4 travel across the guldes, a guard for retaining excavated material on the spade, and means for holdin said uard in operative relation to the spa, e whi e the 110 spade is moved on one portion of the guides and for causing the uard to move out of o erative relation to tv e spade when the spa e enters upon the other portion of the guide, n and a chute so situated as to be located be- 115 .neath the lower end ofthe spade when the spade is on saidlatter portion of the guides.

.17. In an excavating apparatus, a frame, guides on said frame 4consisting of upper vertical portions and lower inclined portions, a s'pade, means on the spade for engaging said uides, means for'moving said spade back and forth alon the guides, a gu ard for retaining excavate material upon the spade,

uard so as to maintain it in operative relation to'the s ade during the upward travel of the spade a ong the inclined portions of lthe guides, and for moving the guard out of operativerelation to the spade when the spade is on the vertical l tie stop, aguard, and connections between. t e

' guar to beheld in operative relation to ,the

s ade during the hoisting movement with t e spade,l and to be carried out of operative ,able frame, guideson sai ortionsiof the anda chute arranged eneath the vertical portions'bf the guides' to receivel the excavated material from the spade. f l- 18'. In an excavatingl a 'paratus,fa spade means for forcing the spa e into the material to be excavated, means for hoisting the Vspade .out of the material to be excavated,

said guldes, a guard for said' spade, a movable stop on said frame adjacent the vertical por-g.

tionof the guides, means associated with said stop for movingthe frame when the stop is operated, means for forcing said spade Y into the material to`be excavated, and means for hoisting it against said stop sol as to. operate 'the stop.

V20. In an `excavating afg-Matus, raL movable frame, guides on sai ame consisting ofanupper verticalortion and a lower inclined portion, a spa emovably mounted onf' said guides, a guard for said spade, a'movabl'e stop on said frame adjacent the vertical portion of the guides, means associated with said stop for moving the frame when the 'stop is o t hoisting it against said stop' so as to operate ard andthe spade for 'causing' the relation to thespade upon engagement thereof with said stop. 21. In an excavating apparatus,' a frame,

guides on' said frame consisting of an upper Eerated, means for forcing saidv spade into e material to be excavated, means for scade;

vertical portion .and tion, a spade mounted on said guides,r a guard for said spade for lbermittin relative o itudinal movement an the spade, said connections bein so ara lower inclined por-4.

etween t e guard ranged that when the relative lon itudjnal.

movement 'between'the guard and t e spade is in one direction the guard and spade are moved laterallyl toward' each other, While upon a relative longitudinal movementl in the opposite direction the guard and` spade are moved away from each other in the lateral direction, means for'moving said spade toward and into the material to be excavated =and atA the same time producing aI relative 4movementbetween the away from each other, an means for hoisting the sp'ade and at the same time forcing the guard' and vspade toward each other,

and a stopl adjacentthe upper vertical portion of theguides for causing the uard and i v sgade tobe'moved away from eac other t ve lateral direction when carriedagainst the stop. l

22. In an-excavating a paratus, a frame; downwardlyincline'd'gui es on the frame, a

6o- (guard and spade spade) slidabl'y mounted on said guides,y a f guard for retaining onthe spade the exca- Vated. material,. meansjforv oerating the s lade and the' u-ard to'forcet e 'spadeinto t e material 'to' 'e excavated and at the'same time' move -the uard into engagement-with the bottom of t e'ex'cavation at a point in 'advance of the spade,-and for withdrawing the spade from the. material and at the same time drawing the guard `along'the bottom of the excavation into en agement with the i' spade vso as to retainft e' material on the spade during the retraction of the spade.

- lIn testimony whereoLI sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

Y Y p EDWIN o. Roon. Witnesses: A

Q .hei-VERBALI.,

RAYMOND ROBERTS. 

